Former Rolla police chief Stan Spadoni dies

A former Rolla police chief who served for most of the 1980s passed away Monday, Aug. 26, 2013.Stan Spadoni died at 9:40 a.m. at Phelps County Regional Medical Center the age of 80. He served as police chief of the Rolla Police Department from 1979 to 1988.

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By Paul Hackbarth

Chillicothe News - Chillicothe, MO

By Paul Hackbarth

Posted Aug. 26, 2013 at 6:04 PM

By Paul Hackbarth

Posted Aug. 26, 2013 at 6:04 PM

A former Rolla police chief who served for most of the 1980s passed away Monday, Aug. 26, 2013.

Stan Spadoni died at 9:40 a.m. at Phelps County Regional Medical Center the age of 80.He served as police chief of the Rolla Police Department from 1979 to 1988.

Arrangements are being handled by Null and Son Funeral Home in Rolla. Services were pending as of press time Monday evening.

Current Rolla Police Chief Mark Kearse said Spadoni made many "great changes" and moved the department in a "more progressive and more professional" direction during his tenure with the Rolla Police Department.

"He was responsible for getting the department in a new direction," Kearse said Monday afternoon by phone. Kearse said Spadoni also started several programs during his time as police chief.

Kearse worked for the department under Spadoni's leadership from 1982 to 1988.

"He put a lot of time and effort into the job," Kearse said.

Spadoni was president of the Missouri Police Chiefs Association. Kearse said Spadoni was involved in changing laws that had to do with how police work is done.

Before he came to Rolla, Spadoni served 24 years in the U.S. Army, achieving the rank of major. He was a veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars.

He previously served as police chief in Keokuk, Iowa, and Nevada, Mo., before being appointed as the police chief in Rolla.

Spadoni also served on the city council in Ward 2 from April 2006 to April 2012. He as director of the Federal and State Surplus Property, a chief ranger with the Missouri State Parks and a consultant to the Phelps County Sheriff's Department during the construction of the current jail.

Kearse said the police department staff was "very saddened to hear the news" of his passing Monday and said the department has offered to be involved as much as his family wants it to be.

During the Rolla Police Department's Golden Shield Awards banquet held in October of last year, an award named after Spadoni was presented to the department's SWAT team.